(750 ILCS 50/12.1)

Sec. 12.1. Putative Father Registry. The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish a Putative Father Registry for the purpose of determining the identity and location of a putative father of a minor child who is, or is expected to be, the subject of an adoption proceeding, in order to provide notice of such proceeding to the putative father. The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish rules and informational material necessary to implement the provisions of this Section. The Department shall have the authority to set reasonable fees for the use of the Registry. All such fees for the use of the Registry that are received by the Department or its agent shall be deposited into the fund authorized under subsection (b) of Section 25 of the Children and Family Services Act. The Department shall use the moneys in that fund for the purpose of maintaining the Registry.

(a) The Department shall maintain the following information in the Registry:

(1) With respect to the putative father:

(i) Name, including any other names by which the putative father may be known and that he may provide to the Registry;

(ii) Address at which he may be served with notice of a petition under this Act, including any change of address;

(iii) Social Security Number;

(iv) Date of birth; and

(v) If applicable, a certified copy of an order by a court of this State or of another state or territory of the United States adjudicating the putative father to be the father of the child.

(2) With respect to the mother of the child:

(i) Name, including all other names known to the putative father by which the mother may be known;

(ii) If known to the putative father, her last address;

(iii) Social Security Number; and

(iv) Date of birth.

(3) If known to the putative father, the name, gender, place of birth, and date of birth or anticipated date of birth of the child.

(4) The date that the Department received the putative father's registration.

(5) Other information as the Department may by rule determine necessary for the orderly administration of the Registry.

(b) A putative father may register with the Department before the birth of the child but shall register no later than 30 days after the birth of the child. All registrations shall be in writing and signed by the putative father. No fee shall be charged for the initial registration. The Department shall have no independent obligation to gather the information to be maintained.

(c) An interested party, including persons intending to adopt a child, a child welfare agency with whom the mother has placed or has given written notice of her intention to place a child for adoption, the mother of the child, or an attorney representing an interested party may request that the Department search the Registry to determine whether a putative father is registered in relation to a child who is or may be the subject to an adoption petition.

(d) A search of the Registry may be proven by the production of a certified copy of the registration form, or by the certified statement of the administrator of the Registry that after a search, no registration of a putative father in relation to a child who is or may be the subject of an adoption petition could be located.

(e) Except as otherwise provided, information contained within the Registry is confidential and shall not be published or open to public inspection.

(f) A person who knowingly or intentionally registers false information under this Section commits a Class B misdemeanor. A person who knowingly or intentionally releases confidential information in violation of this Section commits a Class B misdemeanor.

(g) Except as provided in subsections (b) or (c) of Section 8 of this Act, a putative father who fails to register with the Putative Father Registry as provided in this Section is barred from thereafter bringing or maintaining any action to assert any interest in the child, unless he proves by clear and convincing evidence that:

(1) it was not possible for him to register within the period of time specified in subsection (b) of this Section; and

(2) his failure to register was through no fault of his own; and

(3) he registered within 10 days after it became possible for him to file.

A lack of knowledge of the pregnancy or birth is not an acceptable reason for failure to register.

(h) Except as provided in subsection (b) or (c) of Section 8 of this Act, failure to timely register with the Putative Father Registry (i) shall be deemed to be a waiver and surrender of any right to notice of any hearing in any judicial proceeding for the adoption of the child, and the consent or surrender of that person to the adoption of the child is not required, and (ii) shall constitute an abandonment of the child and shall be prima facie evidence of sufficient grounds to support termination of such father's parental rights under this Act.

(i) In any adoption proceeding pertaining to a child born out of wedlock, if there is no showing that a putative father has executed a consent or surrender or waived his rights regarding the proposed adoption, certification as specified in subsection (d) shall be filed with the court prior to entry of a final judgment order of adoption.

(j) The Registry shall not be used to notify a putative father who is the father of a child as a result of criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined under Article 11 of the Criminal Code of 2012.

(Source: P.A. 97-1150, eff. 1-25-13.)